MOBILE, Alabama - The Mobile Sports Hall of Fame announced a groundbreaking class for 2014 on Wednesday afternoon that included the first swimmer, first female basketball player and second team to join the sports shrine. The inductees in the hall's 26th class are Casey Converse, Dameyune Craig, Charlie Duffee, Lauretta Freeman-Horn, Sam Pettaway and the 1988 Vigor High School football team.

Converse was an Olympic swimmer, Craig was a quarterback at Blount, Auburn and the NFL; Duffee was the first player born in the Deep South to play in the Major Leagues, Freeman-Horn played basketball at Williamson, Auburn and the pros; Pettaway was Davidson's track and field coach for 17 years and 1988 Vigor was the 6A state champ with a 13-0 record.

The announcement was made at the Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel, which is scheduled to become the home of the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame.

Converse swam in the 400-meter freestyle at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The next year while competing for Alabama, Converse became the first swimmer to cover a mile in fewer than 15 minutes on his way to winning the 1,650 freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Converse also broke the NCAA record for the 1,000-yard freestyle that year. He's in his 26th season as the women's swim coach at the Air Force Academy.

Converse was represented by his sister, Brandly Monroe, who said: "I just wanted to say how thrilled Casey is with this nomination. We're all thrilled. It's such an honor to be honored by your hometown and, of course, its Hall of Fame."

Craig led Blount to the 1990 and 1992 Class 5A football championships. At Auburn, Craig passed for a school single-season record of 3,277 yards in 1997, when he helped the Tigers win the SEC West championship. Craig was a backup in four seasons in the NFL, but his jersey is at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's a memento of his 611 passing yards while playing for the Scottish Claymores in an NFL Europe game against the Frankfurt Galaxy in 1999. Now, Craig is Auburn's co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.

Craig thanked his high school football coach, Ben Harris, who was inducted into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame last year, and former South Alabama athletic director Joe Gottfried, who gave him his first collegiate coaching job.

"There are a lot more people more deserving than me, in my opinion," Craig said. "This place is rich in sports. I really don't know what to say about it. I'm still in shock about it. I've done some things in my life, achieved some good things, but this goes to the top of the list - the very top."

The first of Mobile's baseball players to reach the big leagues, Duffee broke in as an outfielder with the St. Louis Browns of the American Association in 1889. He hit 16 home runs as a rookie, good for third in the league, earning the nickname "Home Run." Duffee played three more full seasons and started the 1893 campaign with the Cincinnati Reds, but lasted only four games. He died on Christmas Eve the next year, a victim of tuberculosis at 28.

Sue Edwards, who is a grandniece of Duffee, represented him at the announcement.

Freeman-Horn went from Williamson to the championship game of the NCAA women's basketball tournament in the course of one year. The Tigers lost to Stanford 88-81 in the 1990 championship game in her freshman season. Freeman-Horn went on to become the SEC Player of the Year and a WBCA All-American in 1993. She was on the gold-medal winning U.S. women's basketball team at the 1994 Goodwill Games and played professionally in the ABL and overseas.

"I'm speechless when it comes to the Hall of Fame because being the first - I just found that out," she said. "I'm speechless because I don't really know how to put that into words. It's incredible, and I just thank God for it. To be put in this position is just a blessing and an honor."

Pettaway coached the Class 6A championship boys' track and field teams in 1976, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987. The Davidson girls also won state championship under Pettaway's guidance in 1987 and 1988. Pettaway-coached athletes earned more than 40 All-American designations.

"Who would have thought a little guy from Trinity Gardens who played baseball down at what's called the Dotch Center now would one day be recognized as a member of the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame," Pettaway said. "I was looking on line and I saw some of the names in there, and it's overwhelming."

Coached by late Harold Clark, the undefeated 1988 Vigor football team won the school's second straight Class 6A football championship by outscoring its opponents 387-44. The Wolves won their five playoffs games by a combined score of 148-7. Vigor won eight of its 13 games by shutout, including four of its postseason contests.

With eight All-State players, Vigor was selected by ESPN as the national high school football champion for 1988 - the only Alabama team that has received that designation. The 1988 Wolves join the 1947 Mobile Bears as the only teams inducted into the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame.

Representing the Wolves at the announcement were assistant coach James Perine and players Rodney Craig, Roosevelt Patterson, Kelvin Simmons and Darrell "Lectron" Williams.

"It's only fitting that coach Clark was elected into the Hall of Fame," Perine said, "and we can see that his work is still being recognized. The players that we had were great players. There was nothing like coaching those guys."

The Mobile Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Banquet will be held on May 22 at the Battle House Hotel. Tickets cost $100 and are available online and by calling 251-709-0310.